SCRANTON, Pa.—Sophomore forward Paul Biagioli (Waverly, Pa./Abington Heights) made his first career start a memorable one Monday evening at the John L. Long, S.J., Center.
Biagioli connected on 8 of 11 shots from the field to finish with a career-high 18 points and had five assists and four rebounds to lead The University of Scranton to its second straight victory, a 71-49 win over The College of New Jersey in non-conference action.
Fellow sophomore forward Paul Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) registered the first ‘double-double’ of his career with 15 points and 10 rebounds and junior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College) added 15 points as Scranton improved to 3-2. Junior forward Jeff Warner (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) led the Lions, now 4-3, with 18 points.
The Royals, who led from start to finish, shot a season-high 51.2 percent from the field. It was Biagioli, however, who jump-started the offense, scoring nine points in the opening six minutes of play as Scranton connected on seven of its first eight shots from the field to open up a quick nine-point lead, 15-6. Bicknell and Biagioli combined for 23 first-half points as the Royals stretched their lead to 14, 36-22, by intermission.
Warner opened the second-half with a 3-pointer as the Lions cut the lead to 11, 36-25, before Hawk hit three straight 3-pointers during a one-minute span as the Royals went on a 15-7 run to take a 22-point lead, 51-29, with 14:28 left. The Lions answered by scoring seven straight points—on 3-pointers by senior guard Brian Halligan (Delran, N.J./Delran) and Warner and a lay-up by junior forward Mark Aziz (Hackettstown, N.J./West Morris)—to cut the margin to 14, 51-37, with 12:28 remaining.
Behind back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman guard Dan O’Connell (Somers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) and Biagioli, Scranton put the game away by going on a 13-2 run to take a comfortable 25-point advantage, 64-39, with 6:33 left. The Royals’ largest lead was 27 points.
Biagioli, who averaged 2.9 points in 18 games as a freshman last season, has now scored in double-figures in four of Scranton’s first five games. Including tonight’s performance, he is shooting 66.7 percent from the field (30 of 45), including 58.3 percent (7 of 12) from beyond the 3-point arc. Junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) finished with a season-high eight assists to go along with six rebounds for Scranton, which will continue a four-game home stand this Thursday, December 7, against Clarkson University beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Long Center.
THE CO. OF NEW JERSEY (4-3) Jeff Warner 7-12 0-0 18; Mark Aziz 3-10 1-3 7; Brian Halligan 1-5 2-2 5; Jay Frank 2-7 0-0 4; Adam Gonzalez 2-5 0-0 4; Corey Gilmore 2-4 0-0 4; Aaron Syvertsen 1-1 0-0 3; Drew Rosenfeld 1-3 1-2 3; Will Manhart 0-0 1-2 1; Matt Bramley 0-1 0-0 0; William Jett 0-1 0-0 0; Jeff Molinelli 0-2 0-0 0; Nick Nelson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 5-9 49. THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (3-2) Biagioli, Paul 8-11 0-0 18; Bicknell, Tom 7-8 1-1 15; Hawk, Paul 5-10 1-2 15; FitzPatrick, Ryan 3-7 2-2 9; Fuller, Brendan 1-4 0-0 3; O'Connell, Dan 1-2 0-0 3; Osborne, Chris 1-1 0-0 2; Powell, James 1-3 0-0 2; Arnold, Randy 1-4 0-0 2; Londo, Eli 1-2 0-0 2; Cannon, Darren 0-2 0-0 0; Alfier, Joe 0-0 0-0 0; Kirk, Ryan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-56 4-5 71. The Co. of New Jersey......... 22 27 - 49 University of Scranton........ 36 35 - 71 3-point goals-The Co. of New Jersey 6-21 (Jeff Warner 4-9; Aaron Syvertsen 1-1; Brian Halligan 1-5; Matt Bramley 0-1; Jeff Molinelli 0-2; Jay Frank 0-1; Mark Aziz 0-2), University of Scranton 9-23 (Hawk, Paul 4-9; Biagioli, Paul 2-2; FitzPatrick, Ryan 1-4; O'Connell, Dan 1-2; Fuller, Brendan 1-2; Cannon, Darren 0-2; Kirk, Ryan 0-2). Fouled out--The Co. of New Jersey-None, University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-The Co. of New Jersey 23 (Mark Aziz 5), University of Scranton 38 (Hawk, Paul 10). Assists-The Co. of New Jersey 13 (Jeff Warner 3; Corey Gilmore 3), University of Scranton 23 (Arnold, Randy 8). Total fouls-The Co. of New Jersey 11, University of Scranton 10. A-400